What you need to know
- Parallels has released version 5.0 of its Toolbox software.
- It brings five new tools to Mac including a barcode reader and generator, and a new Focus on Window feature.
A brand new version of Parallels Toolbox is now available, bringing five new tools to users on macOS including a Recognize Text feature that's very similar to Live Text on macOS Monterey.
Version 5.0 of Parallels Toolbox for Mac brings five new features; Barcode Generator, Barcode Reader, Focus on Window, Transform Text, Recognize Text.
Barcode Generator can creat barcodes from basically any piece of text, and creates not just barcodes but QR codes and UPC codes too, there are 13 options in total. Barcode Reader does exactly what it says on the tin, and can be used to scan an image on screen or in conjunction with your device's camera instead.
A handy new Focus on Window tool (pictured above) lets users focus on the window they're dealing with in macOS, darkening the rest of the screen to help you concentrate if you're someone who likes to work in multiple applications at the same time.
A new Transform Text tool can be used to, well, transform text into Capitalized or title case, upper and lower case, and more. It can also help remove empty and duplicate lines.
The final feature is a new Recognize Text feature that's a lot similar to Live Text on the new versions of iOS and iPadOS announced by Apple at WWDC. You can use the tool to highlight a portion of your screen and then convert any text into editable, extracted text that can then be copied to your clipboard.
Ironically, this feature on macOS was limited by Apple to Macs that feature the M1 chip like the 13-inch MacBook Pro with M1 and MacBook Air with M1 until Tuesday, when it brought the feature to Intel Macs too. in the latest Monterey beta.
The new update is available free to existing users of Parallels Toolbox.
Last month the company confirmed to iMore it was working on Windows 11 for Mac through its main Parallels virtualization software.
